The Hidden Device
by Mel18
Summary: Tobias finds a device that can make him human again...blah blah its not finished yet but i hope you'll like it so far. takes place prolly a lil after 33. UPDATED AGAIN!
1. The Hidden Device

Hey, it's Mel. You might have read this before; it was posted as The Hidden Device under my old name, Hawk6002. That account got all screwed up so now I'm known as Mel. I only had a small portion of this posted, and I finally decided to continue it so, here it is! Lol that sounded dumb. I'm open to REVIEWS COUGH REVIEWS and constructive criticism! Oh, and one more thing, the spacing is kind of weird but if you post stuff you know that sometimes it gets screwed up but I hope that doesn't create much of a problem so have fun reading. Okay, now I have to say something else too. The thing wont let me use the sideways triangles for thought speak so I had to go through the WHOLE thing changing them to [ and ]. So yeah that's what they stand for. Happy reading.  
  
Disclaimer: Insert annoying toast-eating disclaimer here.  
  
[Tobias! This is exhilarating!]  
  
[Yea, Ax. It is.]  
  
Ax and I were flying high over the city. We were sure to keep our distance- as everyone knows; red-tails and harriers do NOT fly together. The other Animorphs were at school, so Ax and I decided to go to the mall and get him some Cinnamon buns. I still had a little money from the job that I worked at for a few days. I got fired because of unexpected bathroom breaks every two hours.  
  
We were almost halfway to the mall when, [Hey Ax, wanna try a dive?] I asked, not bothering to see where we were diving to.  
  
[Of course!] he responded, and we plummeted towards the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to capture the feeling of being relaxed with no Yeerk- related stress. Bad idea.  
  
WHAM!  
  
I crashed unexpectedly into the dirt beak-first. My beak sank in but stopped at something hard.  
  
[AX! I could use a little help here!]  
  
[Tobias, I never expected anything like this from you.] He was laughing.  
  
[Ax, will you please just get me out?]  
  
[If only I had a picture-taking device.]  
  
[AX!]  
  
[All right, coming.] He floated down and landed next to me. [What should I do?]  
  
[Just grab my talon and pull or something.] I felt his beak close around my talon and he started to tug. It took very little effort before I popped out and crashed into him.  
  
[Ax, don't speak of this so anyone, please. If they found out I crashed I'd be ruined for life! Or at least a few days-]  
  
[Tobias! Forget that, look at this!] he said. He was staring at the spot that my beak had plowed into. There was a faint glow of light coming out of the hole.  
  
[Whoa.] I couldn't take my eyes off it. When I finally did, I managed to look around and see where we were. Strangely, we were at the construction site. A sudden memory came of that stupid giant monster clamping his jaws around Elfangor's waist, teeth sinking through the skin and blood gushing out.  
  
I shook it off. [C'mon, let's go see what it is.] I walked the best I could on talons over to the hole and peered into it. The light was too bright for me to see what was down there.  
  
[Ax, I'm gonna morph human. Go up and make sure no one sees, okay?] He flew up and I started morphing. My feathers disappeared fist and I suppose I looked like a plucked chicken. My bones felt strange as they stretched and mutated. I felt like I was about to go blind as my human vision sank in. Within a couple of minutes, I was fully human wearing my way-too-tight morphing outfit.  
  
I knelt down and started digging out whatever was under the ground. The more I dug, the fainter the light grew.  
  
The hole was big enough so I could put both my hands down there and pull it out. The only real hard part was getting a good grip on it.  
  
It took a while before I finally pulled it out, and gazed in amazement.  
  
It was a small cube. But there was a strange but cool mix of colors that swirled on the sides.  
  
[Oh for the love of Cinnamon Buns, I didn't think-I thought they-]  
  
"What, Ax, you know what this is?"  
  
[Well, I always thought it was a myth!] he responded. [But, if you must know, in school we saw pictures of a device that some people thought scientists almost perfected, but the scientists wouldn't tell anybody about it until it was proven that it worked, and, well, I thought everyone was just being silly and there was no such device!]  
  
"Just tell me what it is!!" I demanded. I was getting impatient.  
  
[Well, everyone called it the Hidden Device because no one knew if it was real or not. But, as far as I know, the use of it is that it gives nothlits back their original form, along with their morphing powers. The only drawback really is that it can only be used once.]  
  
"So that means..."  
  
[Tobias, you could be human again.]  
  
I didn't believe him. I wanted to, but I didn't want to get my hopes up or anything.  
  
"I don't know, Ax..."  
  
[What do you mean Tobias?]  
  
"Well, I mean, what if it doesn't work or something?"  
  
[How dare you speak that way of a piece of Andalite technology?! Any andalite's product is sure to be 100% efficient even if the process occurs where...]  
  
He droned on a while about that sort of thing. Meanwhile I was still wondering: What would it be like being human again? What if it doesn't even work? And...did I even want to be human again?  
  
[...but if you include the Pythol-Seerie-Karaluft Theorem (or as you humans refer to it, the Pythagorean Theorem) of a²+b²=c², there is no doubt that-]  
  
"You know Ax, maybe it would be wise to get out of here and discuss this later."  
  
[Ah, yes, that would be wise.]  
  
I had Ax fly up and make sure no one was coming near here any time soon.  
  
"Everything clear, Ax?"  
  
[I see a pair of humans over by that gray building, but they wouldn't arrive here for a few minutes even if they were actually heading this direction.]  
  
"Okay." I morphed to hawk and set off toward my meadow. Ax was going the other way.  
  
[Ax! Where are ya going?]  
  
[In case you have forgotten, my friend, the Cinnabun is this way.]  
  
[Oh, yea. Well, I suppose we can still go.] Of course, Ax of all people would remember that we originally came for a Cinnamon bun after something that could change your life happened.  
  
So, we went to the mall.  
  
On the roof of the mall there is a stairway leading down into a room that goes into the store "Victoria's Secret". There is also a bag of 6 outfits lying in a corner. That is where we normally land when we're going to the mall.  
  
Ax and I landed on the roof and demorphed. We grabbed our clothes from the bag and put them on.(Ax still had difficulties putting everything on in the right place.) Otherwise, we'd get some pretty weird looks walking around in our morphing outfits. Actually, we get pretty weird looks anyway when we're seen walking through Victoria's Secret.  
  
Well, after making our way through the maze of women's undergarments, we headed to the food court. We had only just entered when I heard: "PRINCE JAKE!!!" It was quiet for a few seconds after that but then everyone continued their jabbering.  
  
Oh this is so not the time... I thought.  
  
There, sure enough, was Prince J- I mean, Jake, standing in the McDonalds line.  
  
"Hey, Tobias. Ax."  
  
"Greetings Prince Jake! Prinssssssssssssssssss. Jake-kuh. Kuh, kuh, kuhkuhkuhKUHKUHKUHKUH-"  
  
"Ax. Stop."  
  
"K- oh. Yes, of course Tobias."  
  
"So, what are you two doin here?"  
  
"We just came to get Ax a couple Cinnamon buns. What about you?"  
  
"Well, school just ended so me and the others just headed over here to get burgers."  
  
"Burgerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Fun word. Ger ger ger ger ger...."  
  
"Um....right. Well do you two wanna come sit with us?"  
  
"Well, actually-" I started.  
  
"Most definitely, Prince Jake!"  
  
"Don't call me `Prince'".  
  
"Of course, Prince Jake."  
  
"Um, okay. Well we'll meet you guys in a minute, we better go get in the Cinnabun line."  
  
"Time for Cinnamon buns?! JOY!!!" Ax took off to the other side of the court.  
  
"Well, see-ya" I said and chased after Ax. I caught up to him just in time to stop him from jumping over the counter into the tray of Cinnamon buns.  
  
"Ax, we have to get in line first."  
  
"Ah, yes. I always forget. Get-tuh."  
  
I sighed.  
  
"Won't it be exciting to tell the others about our discovery?!"  
  
"Speaking of `our discovery'...you know, Ax, we still have to go back to the construction site and pick it up."  
  
"Oh, yes of course."  
  
"I don't know if we should tell them just yet."  
  
"Why is that, Tobias?"  
  
"Well-" I got cut off as we reached the front of the line.  
  
"Can I take your order?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, one large cinnamon bun."  
  
"And do you happen to have any engine oil?! Or cigarette buttssss? Ssss?"  
  
The lady had a very confused look on her face.  
  
"Just the cinnamon bun, thanks."  
  
She still looked pretty confused but she got the bun and I paid her. Ax grabbed it and I snatched it from him.  
  
"Hey that's mmmyyyy cinnamon bun!"  
  
"No offense, Ax, but if I let you carry it, it would be gone before we reached the table."  
  
Ax and I headed over to Jake and the others. It was such a normal scene: a bunch of kids pigging out at the mall. Haven't had much of those lately.  
  
"So, any new idiotic missions focused on getting us killed coming up?" Marco, of course. It amazed me how he could joke about those things.  
  
"No, actually there's nothing going on right now," Jake responded. "So how about we enjoy our burgers and be a little normal for once?" He smiled.  
  
"Hey, Tobias." Rachel greeted me and gave me a smile. I should have smiled back, but I forgot you smile when you're happy.  
  
Everyone was engaged in conversation. I don't really know what they were talking about. I couldn't take my mind off our discovery earlier.what was going to happen?  
  
Wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't realize that everyone had become silent and were staring at me like I had something in my teeth.  
  
"What?"  
  
Ax spoke up. "Tobias, I have informed them of our discovery."  
  
Uh-oh. What was I supposed to say? I was silent. I looked around. I saw Jake, who looked concerned. Marco, skeptical. Cassie, like she was about to cry. Rachel.Rachel looked happier than I'd ever seen her.  
  
Why didn't they say anything? Were they hoping that I would say, "Yeah, its awesome, I can't wait"? I wasn't excited, happy, annoyed, or angry. I was just confused.  
  
I couldn't take it. Not the stares, the pity, the concern. I had to get out. I stood up and started running. Running away from them, the looks, to the sky.  
  
"Tobias!" I heard Rachel yell. No. I couldn't deal with that right now. I needed to think.  
  
I left the mall and ran until I found a safe place to demorph, and flew away. I needed to think. Why wasn't I happy? I would be human again.  
  
Tobias, remember your life as a human? Shifted from home to home, either ignored or beaten? Humans are hell. That's why.  
  
This was too much. If I became human again.then what? Where would I go? I have no home. Can't go to my uncle's. No way. Definitely not happening.  
  
So much to think about. Too much. But.  
  
Rachel. I knew that would be Rachel's dream: to have me human again. I cared about Rachel. Yes.I could do this for her. I owed her something. Okay, if I can't think of one good reason to become human again, I'll do it for Rachel.  
  
I flew around for about an hour then headed to her house. She's probably waiting for me, anyway. I flew through her window and landed on her desk.  
  
"Tobias!" she exclaimed. "I was so worried, we all were. Why did you run off like that?"  
  
[I just.couldn't handle it, I guess. You know. Needed to think.]  
  
"Tobias.Gosh, this is great though, isn't it? I mean, you could be human. And, we could be together." Her eyes looked at me, so hopeful. I wouldn't let her down, never.  
  
[Yeah. Great.]  
  
I left Rachel's room. Talking to her made me feel a little better. As I flew back to my meadow, I started to feel excited. I mean, if I was human, just think of all the things I could do! I could go to a movie, without missing the end. I could.take a shower, eat pizza, talk out loud. Maybe even ask Rachel on a date.and maybe, just maybe hold her hand? I laughed. Why was I so depressed? Being a human would be awesome! But.I would leave the sky. No, not forever. I could still fly whenever I wanted. Yes. That would be okay.  
  
I reached the meadow and found Ax looking for me.  
  
[Hey, Ax-man!]  
  
[Tobias! I was worried about you.]  
  
[Oh, sorry about that, Ax. I just needed to be by myself for a while.]  
  
[No, it wasn't that. It's just you were running, in the mall, and I was afraid you would fall and hurt yourself. I mean, you only had two legs; it was bound to happen. But I am glad to see you made it out.]  
  
Was he making a joke? It's hard to tell. I laughed anyway. [Well, I'm glad you're so concerned about me, Ax.]  
  
[I have spoken to Prince Jake. He recommends we meet tomorrow afternoon at the barn. He assured me to let you know that he doesn't expect you to use it right away if you don't want to, but he feels we should get together to discuss the whole situation, at least.]  
  
Talk about it? Wow, that will be interesting, a meeting to discuss my personal life. Ehh, what the heck. [Okay, Ax. Umm, I think it would be a good idea to go get the thing though, wouldn't it?]  
  
[Ah, yes of course. Let us go now.] Ax morphed to harrier and we headed back to the construction site.  
  
[Okay, Ax, I think you should keep a lookout while I morph to human. I'll have to walk back to the meadow, but it's not a long walk.]  
  
[That sounds good, however I suggest we keep it at Cassie's barn, so we don't have to carry it there tomorrow.]  
  
[Yeah, that makes more sense.] I flew down and morphed to human. Glad to see the cube still there, I picked it up and walked to Cassie's house.  
  
It took about a half hour to walk there. As her barn came into view I said to Ax, [Ax, are we clear?]  
  
[No, Tobias, Cassie is inside the barn and her parents are just outside.]  
  
[Damn. Pardon my French. So what do we do? Her parents don't know me and it would look pretty odd.]  
  
[I think I have the perfect morph, Tobias.]  
  
Ax landed and began to demorph while I, er, also demorphed. I flew up to make sure the coast was still clear, while Ax morphed.Jake. I can't tell you how odd that looked.  
  
Once Ax was fully morphed, he headed to Cassie's parents holding the cube.  
  
"Jake!" Cassie's mom called. "Hey! How are you?" and gave him a brief hug. Cassie's dad shook Ax's hand.  
  
Ax spoke. "Yes! I am Jake. Jake-kuh! It is most wonderful to see you two again. EHHHHN." They looked confused.  
  
"So, Jake, what have you been up to?" Cassie's Dad asked.  
  
"I am afraid that I have no idea. You see I have temporarily lost my memory and cannot tell you what I have been up to, for I do not know. No-uh!"  
  
"Um..Err.." They responded.  
  
"Yes well I have a gift for Cassie. Is she available? If not I will leave a message after the beep. BEEP!"  
  
"Um.Yes, Jake, right inside the barn there."Cassie's dad shooed him towards the barn. I flew in after him.  
  
Cassie's eyes lit up as she saw Ax. "Hey, Jake!" she called.  
  
[Don't get too excited, Cass, its just Ax.] Cassie laughed.  
  
"I have brought this to store here until tomorrow afternoon," Ax said. "I hope you can keep it safe."  
  
Cassie looked at the cube. "Ohh."Her eyes glanced up at me and I preened a wing. "Oh, yeah, of course." She opened a large box, a freezer, and stored it at the bottom under some grape Popsicles and blood samples. "Yeah, it will be fine here."  
  
[Thanks, Cassie] I said.  
  
"You know, Tobias, if you need to talk-" [No. I mean, thanks, Cass, a lot. I appreciate the offer but I'm pretty sure I have everything figured out.]  
  
She smiled. "Okay. Take care of yourself, both of you."  
  
[We will.]  
  
That whole night was pretty restless. Hard to sleep, thinking about that meeting the next day. It was hard to think this could be the last night in my tree. Oh well, we'll see what happens tomorrow.  
  
As the sun rose that morning I was getting more antsy. I started to fly around right away, had a baby rabbit for breakfast and just flew around some more. I found myself around places where lots of people gathered. I saw people hanging around at the beach, taking walks in the park. Whenever I noticed this before, I was a bit jealous that that could never be me. Now that it is possible, I'm not sure if that is what I want. But I can't help feeling excited, also. Argh, so confusing.  
  
I spent the morning doing just that, flying around, lost in my thoughts. Around 1:00 I mentally took a deep breath and headed to the barn.  
  
I entered casually and landed in the rafters, my usual spot. Everyone was there except Ax, who arrived about a minute later. Jake was pacing, Cassie was tending to a raccoon, and Rachel and Marco were both lolling on bales of hay. Everything was silent until Jake spoke up.  
  
"Hey everybody. I, er, called this meeting to, er, discuss our, er, Tobias's situation here." He seemed as though he felt very awkward. So did I.  
  
"Well, you all know what the deal is, and I figured we should all be here to discuss it. Or something." Everyone seemed confused. So, Marco spoke up.  
  
"Okay, Jake, since we all know you're nothing but a big galumphing oaf and cant explain anything that doesn't have to do with getting us killed, I'll take over." He seemed pleased with his self and turned to me with a smirk. Jake snickered. "Okay, look Tobias, so you have the chance to become human again. And, if you choose to accept it, you're gonna have to work out a few things, which we want to help you out with, which is why we're all here. The biggest issue, where the heck will you live?"  
  
That summed it up pretty well. As much as I hate everyone worrying about my personal life, I had to admit I needed help figuring this one out.  
  
[Yeah, um.well that's my main problem and I was hoping you guys could help me out with that one, cuz, I have no idea.] So embarrassing.  
  
Jake spoke. "What about your uncle's house? I mean he thinks you're with your aunt right now."  
  
I shuddered at the thought. All they knew about my relationship with my uncle was how he ignored me most of the time. They didn't know about.well either way-  
  
[Um no. No, I.can't go back there. Anywhere but there.]  
  
"What about the Hork-Bajir valley?" Marco suggested.  
  
"No," Rachel said quickly. Everyone looked at her. "Well, we need him in town, don't we? If he's all the way over there, it will be hard to contact him for missions and everything."  
  
Jake nodded. "Rachel's right. We really need him in town, close by." Rachel relaxed. I laughed.  
  
Ax spoke now. [Tobias, you could live with me in my scoop. I would be happy to extend it a portion to fit your human needs.]  
  
[Thanks, Ax, I'll consider that.]  
  
"Ax, I think Tobias could use a real home, with guardians of some sort." Cassie, of course. It felt kind of nice, having someone worry about you and actually care.  
  
Everyone kind of thought for a minute, then suddenly Marco spoke up.  
  
"Erek," he said.  
  
[No, Marco, that is Tobias,] Ax responded.  
  
"Thank you, all-knowing Andalite genius, for correcting me. Anyway, what if Tobias lived with the Kings? They could say they adopted him or something."  
  
Jake's eyes lit up. "Hey, I think that could work! Er, what do you think, Tobias? I mean, it's your life and everything."  
  
Hmm. Not bad. [I think it's the best idea we've got.]  
  
"Okay, great. Well, I'll give Erek a call and what do you say you head over there around 4:00 and talk about it with them?"  
  
[Sure.]  
  
"I'll go too," Rachel said. Marco chuckled.  
  
"Okay," Jake said. "Well, tell me later how everything works out. Rachel, I'll call you later to verify that Erek can have you guys over."  
  
I could tell things were just going to get more interesting.  
  
Haha, I hate to leave you with a cliffhanger but hey I'll post some more soon I promise! Ugh I just got done changing all the 's to ['s and visa versa. Well I hope you liked it so far, and for all you R/T fans out there, I'm planning to let them go on at least one date and definetaly a school dance *smiles!* well yeah there may be some J/C too but just slightly. Umm yeah that's all. Happy reviewing! 


	2. Decisions

I started to head back to my meadow as the others left the barn.  
  
[Hey Tobias!] It was Rachel, in her bald eagle morph.  
  
[Yeah?]  
  
[Well, I was just going to ask, you wanna come over or something? You know, then when Jake calls about Eric, we can just head over there. It'll just be an hour or so.]  
  
[Umm, sure, that'd be great.]  
  
[Cool. My mom is at work and my sisters are both with friends, so we don't have to worry about them seeing me talking to a bird, or anything.] She laughed.  
  
We flew over to Rachel's house and went through her open window. I landed on her desk, a regular spot for me now, and she landed on her bed and demorphed. I watched her dig through her dresser and pull on jeans and a shirt over her morphing outfit. Kinda made me laugh inside. I mean, back when I was human, the dork and bully magnet, I never would have guessed that I would be in a beautiful girl's room watching her put on clothes. I laughed again. Of course, I also wouldn't have guessed I would be a talking bird fighting evil alien slugs.  
  
"Okay," she said. She opened her door and I flew above her, down the stairs. We went into her living room. I perched on the couch armrest and Rachel sat on a chair beside it, while she grabbed for the remote and turned on the T.V.  
  
"So, what do you want to watch?" Rachel asked.  
  
[Ha, like I know. Whatever you want.] Rachel shrugged and flipped through the channels. She stopped at a cartoon of some sort. There was a square yellow figure which had big long eyelashes and spoke in a squeaky boyish voice.  
  
[Haha, Rachel, what the heck is this?]  
  
"Oh. It's Spongebob Squarepants."  
  
[Spongebob wha?]  
  
"You mean you never heard of Spongebob? Wow, that's terrible." We watched Spongebob for a half hour. It was amusing. I was never allowed to watch much T.V. with my aunt or uncle, but when I could I enjoyed it. Just as the end credits started playing, the phone rang and Rachel got up to answer it.  
  
"Hello? U-huh-Okay,great-Yeah, that works-I will Jake. Jeez-Allright. Bye."  
  
Rachel came back in. "Well, Jake says everything is cool with Erek. He didn't tell him what was going on, just that you and I would be over there in a little bit to discuss something with him."  
  
[Let's do it,] I said. Rachel's line. She laughed and took off her outer clothing as she morphed to eagle. We flew to Erek's house. Rachel demorphed, and I morphed, under the safety of a cluster of trees in his backyard. Both human, we walked to his front door. Before we even knocked, the door opened. There was Erek. "Hi. I was expecting you. About time you got here." He motioned with his hand for us to follow him and we walked inside. In his living room we took a seat on the couch while Erek sat diagonally from us on a large chair. The T.V. was on, but it was muted.  
  
"So," Erek said, "Jake says you need to talk to me about something?" Rachel and I looked at each other. Then something occurred to me. "Well, I started, "Erek, your 'family', I mean, the Chee that play Mr. And Mrs. King, do you guys actually live up in the house for the most part, or do you live in that dog park thing down in your basement?" I just thought of that as we got here. If the house was nothing more than a disguise, and they all lived down in the dog park, then this place really didn't do me any good.  
  
"Actually, yes, me and my 'parents' spend most of our time living in the house, sleeping in beds, and cooking meals. Although, sinse we don't need to eat, our holograms appear as though we are eating and the food is transported into dog treats, stored in the basement." Well. That was odd.  
  
Rachel spoke. "But isn't your house like mega-protected or whatever? I mean it's not like you're worried about people looking inside your house and noticing that you never eat or anything."  
  
"Oh, we don't to protect our cover. We simply enjoy the human experience. That is why I am enrolled in school and my 'dad' has a job. We don't need to act like humans physically, but we like to."  
  
Okay. This was working out. Now for the hard part.  
  
"So, yeah. What does this have to do with anything?" Erek asked.  
  
How to word this? I looked to Rachel for support. She shrugged. Great. I turned back to Erek. "Um, well, the thing is," I started.  
  
"Just tell him," Rachel whispered in my ear. Good old Rachel. Way to be subtle. Okay, here goes.  
  
"Erek, me-and-Ax-found-this-thing-and-I-could-be-human-again-and well," I babbled in what seemed like one sentence. Woah. Did I just say that?  
  
"Ohhh," Erek realized. "Need a place to stay, right?"  
  
"Well, yeah." I felt my face get hot. Erek smiled. "I would love for you to come live with us, Tobias. Anything we can do to help."  
  
Wow. Erek didn't even need to consider before he answered. I suddenly had a greater respect for the Chee, that they would take in somebody who needed it, without a question. "Thanks, Erek." I couldn't think of anything else to say.  
  
"So when are you going to be ready?"  
  
"Soon, probably," Rachel said. "Within the next few days." Wow. That was soon.  
  
"Sure, no problem."  
  
"Okay, well, I think we better get going, huh?" Rachel stood up. I did the same. "Thanks again, Erek. Really." He smiled. Rachel closed her eyes and started morphing. Eagle. Me, I demorphed. Erek opened the door for us and we flew outside.  
  
[So, Tobias,] Rachel said. [When do you wanna, you know, use this thing?]  
  
[I don't know.] I'm sure that explained a lot.  
  
[Well why don't we stop over at Marco's? Jake's over there, we could talk about it with him.]  
  
[Uh, sure. I guess.] We turned and went for Marco's house. We saw them sitting in his room playing video games.  
  
[JAKE!] Rachel shouted. I saw Jake fall completely off the bed and smack into the T.V. Marco mumbled something to him and Jake looked annoyed. Marco shook his head and opened the window for us and we flew in to land on his bed.  
  
"So, any reason you two decided to show up and cause Jake to block my view, thus disabling me from GETTING TO LEVEL TWELVE?!?!" Marco screeched.  
  
[Yes.] Rachel responded. [Jake, when do you think Tobias should use this thing?]  
  
"Oh. So Bird-boy's life is more important than my getting to level twelve?"  
  
"I'm not even going to answer that." Jake turned to us. "Well, I think it would be a good idea to do it with all of us there, you know, to oversee it and make sure everything works out and everything."  
  
"Well," Marco said still looking grumpy, "Tomorrow's Sunday, we'd have the whole day, or we could do it any day after school that works out for everyone."  
  
[Um, let's do it tomorrow.] I decided.  
  
"Okay, then, say, around three?" Jake said.  
  
Rachel and I said our goodbyes and flew away. She flew back to her house, and I to my meadow. As I perched in my tree, my mind went back to the last time I had nearly stayed as a human. I had thought that I had been offered a home by my so called 'long lost cousin.' I remembered how excited I was. I was looking forward so much to doing simple things like sleeping in a bed, not killing my own meals, being able to perform simple gestures like putting my arm around someone. I had been so ready to trap myself, until, it turned out I didn't have a cousin at all, and that kind of destroyed any hope I had about being human.  
  
And then it hit me. Why I was so skeptical about this "Hidden Device". I was afraid it wasn't going to work. Last time, I had been so hurt and broken when I found out that I couldn't become human again. This time, I'm afraid to allow myself to get excited for the fear of it not working, and reexperiencing that hurt again.  
  
I laughed. What is there to worry about? Ax seems very confident that it'll work. And when it does, I can be human. Human! No more sleeping in a tree! Or killing rabbits and mice for food. And Rachel, I can be with Rachel for more than just two hours. I can be with her forever.  
  
[I am a human being!] I shouted to no one.  
  
Tonight....the last time I will kill my supper.  
  
Tonight....the last time I will sleep in a tree.  
  
And tomorrow....tomorrow I will be a human, with hands and feet and, Rachel.  
  
I made it through the night. I had killed a mouse for dinner and, feeling content, drifted off to sleep on my perch. I was awoken just as the sun was coming up by a loud screech.  
  
[Ahhh!!!] I jumped. A large bird landed next to me, an eagle.  
  
[Oh, Rachel, it's you.] I sighed.  
  
[Who did you expect, Big Bird?]  
  
I didn't respond to that. [So, what's up?]  
  
[I don't know. I was just thinking, you know, today's the big day. I was wondering if you, you know, needed to talk or anything.]  
  
What should I say? [Um, well, I guess I don't know what to say.]  
  
[Ah. That's cool.] We sat in silence for a moment. [Tobias?] I looked at her. [When you are, you know, human, do you want to go see a movie or something?]  
  
Rachel? Asking me on a date? I could have jumped. But I didn't. I don't know if I can jump. [Yeah. Yeah, that would be great, Rachel.]  
  
[Cool. Say, do you wanna go flying? It's supposed to be a nice day.]  
  
I could already feel it getting warm as everything got brighter. Great for thermals. Well, as it is my last day as a hawk, I couldn't think of any other way I would like to spend it.  
  
Rachel and I spent the day flying together. I could tell she enjoyed it just as much as I did. We flew and flew, the world was ours. Rachel of course needed to stop every couple of hours, to demorph and remorph. It seemed like two seconds and two millenias at the same time, when it was almost three. We headed towards the barn.  
  
Muahaha. Yes, im leaving you with another cliffie. I'm SO SORRY! But I felt I needed to think about the upcoming scene a little more, and I thought all you reading this needed to have another update. So, id like to give a quick thank you to the reviewers, thank you so much! I love getting them, so don't hesitate to review. And yeah I sound like an idiot now. Well, I don't have any more to say so yeah PINEAPPLES! 


	3. Time to Change

Rachel and I entered the barn. I landed in the rafters, for my last time. Rachel demorphed. I suppose we were a little late, because we were the last ones to get there. Jake spoke.  
  
"So, Tobias, you ready to use this thing?"  
  
[Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready.]  
  
"Allright. Ax? What do we need to do?"  
  
Ax was holding the cube in his hands. He looked at me with one stalk eye, the other on the cube, and his main eyes at the other Animorphs. [Tobias will need to be in his human form. You must place one hand on the cube, and concentrate on your human self. The rest of you should keep a good distance from him, the process may be alarming.]  
  
What did he mean by that? Oh well, didn't matter. I landed on the ground and started morphing. I could only imagine what the others were thinking...  
  
Jake: Tobias, human again? Things were going to change dramatically I'm sure. But hopefully it won't have a negative effect on the war. I mean, what was I going to do without my eyes on the sky 24/7? No! What am I thinking? Tobias is happy. I shouldn't be concerned about how it will affect our army. But still...  
  
Cassie: Well, I hope Tobias will find happiness from this. Gosh, I rarely ever see him happy. It's like whenever he thinks he could be, he's afraid someone will come along and take it away from him. I guess that was kind of how his whole life had been, until recently though. I have no doubt that Rachel will be happy. And I guess I'm okay with anything that will make my best friend happy.  
  
Ax: I am glad that my shorm, and my nephew, Tobias, has overcome his nothlit state. As long as I have known Tobias, he has been a nothlit. He and I were alike in that way, we were both misfits on this planet. Now that I am the only misfit, I am confident that we will remain shorm. Our friendship is not based upon similarity, but of trust. I do hope Tobias will continue to visit me, however.  
  
Marco: Oops! I did it again. I played with your heart, got lost in the game. Oh baby, baby Dum dum, da da da duuum... Gosh, I cant get that song out of my head. (A/N: lol that was my first thought of what Marco was thinking, and I just had to write it down, so if you prefer the alternate paragraph then read on.)  
  
Marco: What can I say? Tobias and I never had much of a relationship. He always really scared me, what happened to him I mean. If I were him, I guess I would be almost too happy to get my old body back. But, that's just me...  
  
Tobias: I think I already knew what Rachel was thinking.  
  
I finished morphing to human. I was really going to have to get used to these eyes. I brought my hands to my face and flexed my fingers. Wow. The hand was very cool. I looked around. I was standing there in my morphing outfit. Okay, time to do something.  
  
"Orghsh" I had to get used to my voice again. "Okay, Ax, now what?"  
  
Ax stepped forward and placed the cube on the floor. [Yes, now everyone should move away from Tobias approximately three of your feet.] Everyone stepped back.[Now Tobias, place one hand on the top of the cube and concentrate on your human self. Then you may stand up, where the process will take place. It may last up to three of your minutes.] Ax seemed sort of nervous.  
  
I glanced at Rachel. She smiled at me. I remembered to smile back this time.  
  
I crouched down, about to touch it when I was interrupted by Marco.  
  
"Wait, wait wait. Shouldn't we all sing 'God Bless America' or the 'Circle of Life' or something?"  
  
Jake shook his head. "Marco, do you know the lyrics to either song?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay." Jake turned to me. "Whenever you're ready, Tobias."  
  
I was ready. I crouched down again and placed my palm on the top of the cube. It grew warm, and I concentrated on my self. Kind of tall, messy dirty-blonde hair, kind of lanky, blue eyes. I felt sort of a jolt and I stood up. So far, I didn't feel anything. Then-  
  
"AHHHH!" I doubled over in pain, clutching my stomach. My insides were churning, I felt like I was about to vomit up my organs. Skin on fire! Bones shattering! My mind sank into a world of pain; I was screaming. I kind of witnessed my surroundings from far off-  
  
"Tobias!" Rachel? Probably. She was pretty. Yeah. Brave, too.  
  
[No! Back away! Don't go near him!]  
  
I couldn't think...couldn't breathe...  
  
Then, I opened my eyes. I was lying on the floor of the barn; the pain was gone. My face was hot and I felt very weak.  
  
[It is done.]  
  
I sat up. I felt two arms slide around my shoulders. Rachel. She was crouched down, pulling me into a tight hug. I felt too shaky to return it, but it felt good just the same.  
  
After a few moments I was able to stand up. I took several long, deep breaths. Jake walked over and sort of placed his hand on my shoulder. "Welcome back, Tobias."  
  
I just shook my head in response. I wasn't really ready to talk yet. Cassie walked over and gave me a hug. A gesture of acknowledgment, I guess.  
  
I was finding it hard to keep my eyes open. I was tired, very tired.  
  
Without thinking I laid down on the floor and fell asleep instantly.  
  
It seemed like a long time before I woke up. I slowly opened my eyes and sat right up. Where was I?! I was in a bed, with a blue pillow and comforter. It was like a normal bedroom, though kind of empty. There was a window just above the bed, sunlight shining through. It was day, obviously. The walls were painted light blue. There was a small stand beside the bed, with an alarm clock and a lamp. There was a T.V. on a dresser at the wall facing the end of the bed. A desk was in a corner. Two doors were in the room, one for a closet and the other that would lead into a hallway, I suppose. I still begged the question: How did I get here? As if someone read my mind, I saw a door open. Inside stepped Erek.  
  
"Oh good, you're up," Erek said. He took a seat at the edge of my bed.  
  
"What happened?" I asked.  
  
"Well, you fell asleep back at the barn yesterday," Erek laughed. "You gave the others quite a fright, you wouldn't wake up. They called me and I carried you here."  
  
Hmm. "Well thanks, I guess. What time is it?"  
  
"Oh, it's about noon. You must be hungry. Would you like to come downstairs and have lunch?"  
  
At the thought of food, my stomach growled. "Yeah, sure."  
  
"Cool," Erek said as he stood up. "Oh, and Rachel went and bought you some clothes, which you'll find in your dresser." He left the room.  
  
I stood up and walked to the dresser. I hoped Rachel didn't go overboard. I opened the first drawer. A few pairs of socks and boxers. Second drawer, several T-shirts, some plain black, white, or dark green. I noticed one in particular. It was black, with what looked like an emblem on the front of it-a large circle with a red-tailed hawk in the center. Awesome. I opened the third drawer. Some very stylish sweaters and other long sleeved shirts. The bottom drawer contained a few pairs of dark blue jeans and one pair of khakis. Wow. Rachel sure spent a lot of time on this. Everything was perfectly folded neatly, and I'm sure it was all the right size. I made a mental note to find a way to repay her.  
  
I pulled out a pair of socks, boxers, jeans, and that hawk shirt. I removed my morphing outfit and changed into the clothes. There was a comb on the nightstand. I ran it through my hair and walked into the hallway. There were several rooms on this floor, it looked like two other bedrooms and a bathroom. I walked down the stairs and onto the first floor. There was the living room and across from it, the kitchen. Half was with a stove, cupboards and such, and the other have contained a circular table. Erek was at the stove, cooking something. He turned to me. "Hey, Tobias! I'm fixing macaroni and cheese, you want some?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
"Allright, it's just about ready. Here, grab a bowl from that cupboard."  
  
I took a bowl and Erek spooned some of the mac and cheese into it. "Go ahead and eat in the living room, you can watch T.V. or whatever," Erek said. I nodded and sat on the couch enjoying my lunch, flipping through channels. For the first time, I wasn't feeling very awkward. I was nice, I felt so comfortable here. It almost felt like...home?  
  
I sat around for a while watching T.V. when Erek entered the room. "Tobias, someone's here to see you."  
  
Well yeah. Kinda short, I know. I wrote this and a couple more pages last night, but I stopped in the middle of a conversation so I figured I would leave it here for now, even though it's a major cliffhanger lol. Im sorry, again. But I don't have time to finish that conversation because I am about to venture to a friends house, so I figured id at least post this much before I left. And, I cant say enough, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!!!! GO YOU! Lol I just wanted to add before I left, you know Rachel asked tobias to a movie, so...what should they see? Lol well im open to suggestions so yeah. Wow im writing to much so im gonna stop now...HAPPY REVIEWING! 


	4. The Meeting

I walked into the living room where I saw Jake standing with Mr. King.  
  
"Hey, Tobias. We've got sort of a spur-of-the-moment meeting now, you up for it?"  
  
I nodded. "Yeah sure."  
  
Jake smiled. "Okay, great. Well, talk to you later Mr. King." Mr. King waved good-bye.  
  
I followed Jake outside and prepared to morph but he stopped me. "Actually, do you mind if we walk? I thought it would give us a chance to talk."  
  
"No problem." We walked. Awkward.  
  
After a few moments of awkward silence, Jake spoke up. "So, how are things going?"  
  
"All right, I guess. Kind of weird."  
  
"Yeah, I understand that." Silence. "Look, Tobias, I don't want to sound corny or anything, but I just want you to know that I understand that this is all pretty new for you, and that you can always talk to me or any of us; we all want to help, I guess."  
  
Once again I admired Jake for keeping up to his job description of being a leader. However sincere he was or not, I did respect that he came and talked to me anyway. "Thanks, Jake."  
  
"Yeah. So, anyway, I know that this is a lot to take in at once, but we were wondering what you thought about getting back in school."  
  
School? Wow. School. I hadn't really thought much about that. School used to be such a nightmare. But then again, now I have much worse nightmares.  
  
"I guess I should, shouldn't I?"  
  
"It's up to you. But I think the sooner the better. You could enroll next week, once you're used to things better. I'll let you shadow me the first day to help you get settled."  
  
"Works for me."  
  
"Great," said Jake as we entered the barn. Everyone was there waiting for us. Ax was in his andalite form trying to explain to Marco and Rachel who knows what, while Cassie was tending to various animals. To my surprise, Toby was standing there too.  
  
Jake spoke up. "Okay everyone, Toby has some information for us, so listen up!" He looked at Toby.  
  
"Thank you Jake. There is a Yeerk scientist working on a device that detects morphed creatures. If the device works, they will be able to know at any time when you are in morph, which means morphing will be utterly useless for spy missions. The project is very top secret, and it is all the work of one man. If you can eliminate him, there is no chance of the device succeeding."  
  
"Who is he?" Cassie asked.  
  
"His human name is Phillip Binkley."  
  
"Hey that's our biology teacher!" Rachel stated proudly.  
  
"Yes, he works at your school," Toby restated. "However, he is out of town now on a family vacation for a couple of weeks. He is scheduled to introduce his prototype of the device to Visser 3 on the night of his return, the 23rd of this month. Visser 3, or anybody else, doesn't know what the device is supposed to do yet. You will have to find Binkley on that day and stop him from showing the device to Visser 3."  
  
"23rd.....23rd.....something's on the 23rd.....can't think of it....." muttered Rachel.  
  
"Okay, so how are we going to find Mr. Binkley on the 23rd?" pondered Jake.  
  
"We could just follow him after school," suggested Marco.  
  
"Nuh uh. It's a Saturday," said Cassie, shaking her head and pointing to the calendar.  
  
"I GOT IT!" yelled Rachel. Everyone stared at her. "The 23rd! That's the day of our semi-formal!" Everyone stared again.  
  
"So...?" asked Marco.  
  
"Helloooo, doesn't anyone pay attention to these things?" Rachel grumbled. "Mr. Binkley ALWAYS organizes the dances. If he's supposed to show the prototype to the Visser that night, he'll be at the dance first. We'll just keep an eye out for him there and follow him when he leaves!"  
  
Jake nodded and looked pleased, but then suddenly looked as though he swallowed school macaroni-and-glue. "But that means......"  
  
"Yep! We get to go to the dance! HA! And we'll have to stay the whole time too!" Rachel chirped. "Cassie, you can go with Jaaaaaaaaake, and I'll go with Tobias!" she said, in a "you better do what I say or I'll tap dance on your face" kind of voice. "Oh, and Marco can go with Ax."  
  
"Hey who says I can't get a date?" Marco whined.  
  
"God," Rachel joked.  
  
"Okay, so I guess we're going to the dance," settled Jake. Everyone headed home. I morphed and got back into the sky.  
  
A dance, hmm? Might not be so bad.  
  
Wow, it's been what a YEAR since I've updated? IM sorry, it's just that school started and I had crazy hard classes. Been busy. But tonight I was bored and I checked my e-mail and hey! I had a review! So I was like, what the heck, and here I am. I wasn't planning on continuing because I didn't see where the story was going but I sat down and twisted up the plot a little and switched things around and there you have it! Okay I'll shut up now. Happy reviewing, and expect more soon! 


	5. Old friends

The rest of the week was more or less normal. Go ahead; laugh as I say "normal." I spent my time as a human, wandering around the neighborhood or visiting Erek's dogs. I worked a lot on re-learning old human habits I had forgotten, such as showering, brushing, or simply facial expressions. Not that I had forgotten how to shower or anything like that, I just didn't have that instinct anymore, the push in the back of your mind that tells you to do those seemingly sensible tasks. Nevertheless, I was pretty confident that the habits I should have would naturally come back into place.  
  
"So, tomorrow's the big day, huh?" asked Mr. King with a chuckle in his voice.  
  
"Huh?" I stuttered, looking up from my cereal. Erek was next to me on the kitchen counter eating a slice of bacon Mr. King had prepared.  
  
"You're shadowing Jake tomorrow aren't you?" he answered as he placed another plate into the dishwasher.  
  
"Oh yeah. Tomorrow," I said.  
  
Erek rested his hand on my shoulder and laughed. "Aww, it's almost Toby's first day of school!"  
  
I laughed and shoved him away. "Well, it should be interesting, I think. Jake says I don't need to bring anything the first day, my teachers will tell me all of the supplies I need and I bring them the next day."  
  
"Oh, well when you do need some we have plenty of school stuff in the closet. Extra stuff of Erek's that he didn't need to use. Go ahead and take that when you need it," offered Mr. King. He turned off the sink.  
  
"Thanks." I took the last bite of my cereal. "Well, I'm going to go for a walk."  
  
Mr. King and Erek exchanged glances and smirked. "Yeah. Sure. Waallllk."  
  
"What?" They grinned. "I'm NOT going flying, guys."  
  
"Yeah, okay, whatever. Have fun on your WALK." Erek smiled. Jake and them had kind of decided it would be good for me to avoid morphing the first week or so to get more accustom to being a human.  
  
I walked outside and headed down the street. It was very warm out. Plenty of thermals, great for-NO! I'm not going to fly. I can get used to this. I don't need to fly all of the time. But it is such a nice day.....  
  
I really hadn't intended on flying today.  
  
Soon enough, I was in the air. Wings spread, thermals lifting me higher and higher. I relaxed and let the air carry me wherever it wished. The wind gently tapped my face and rustled my feathers, taking all of my problems with it and carrying them to the other side of the sky. The warm air below me, supporting my body and allowing me to relax, while the open air above me invited me to go higher, anywhere I wanted. I was free. I was home.  
  
I spent some time just flying around aimlessly, twisting and turning with the wind. It was like hanging out with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. I wondered when I would next morph to- Wait. DEMORPH. [This is just a morph! How long have I been in it? Tobias you're so stupid!] I flew to the ground and concentrated on my human self. I was in panic. It seemed like minutes before I started to see changes. I breathed a sigh of relief. When I was fully human again, I looked around. There was a large clock tower in the distance. An hour and fifty minutes. "That was close. I have to be more careful."  
  
I demorph- er, morphed back to hawk and flew home. It wasn't as enjoyable. Luckily the Kings weren't around to see me in just my morphing suit. I threw on some clothes and stayed inside the rest of the day.  
  
Later that night Jake called to check up on tomorrow's plans. Erek and I would walk to school together and I would meet Jake in front.  
  
"Okay, everything's cool. And Tobias?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Get some sleep. It's not so fun getting up early."  
  
"Ah. Yep. Bye."  
  
I laid in bed awake for a while, staring at the shapes in the ceiling. When I was human I always was sort of a night owl. I'd stay up in my room and draw, read, or make up stories about my parents. Then again, as a hawk I didn't really sleep either. Sleeping as a bird is strange; you're asleep but you're not asleep, like human sleep. I felt sort of dumb tonight though, it was just like the nights I spent when I would come back to my uncle's house and start school over again, pondering about who would find new fun messing with me this time around. Whether I might make a friend for once. Tomorrow will be different. I'm starting out fresh, without "beat me up I'm helpless" vibes. It will be a brand new day.  
  
"Ooo look, a duck," I said, pointing to the ceiling as I drifted off to sleep.  
  
"Please, stop! Stop!"  
  
In the hallway in the school. A teenager kicked me in the ribs, over and over and over. I coughed up blood and it landed on his shoe.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled pointing to his foot. I couldn't speak. He pulled a knife from his jacket pocket and raised it up over my head.  
  
Suddenly a flutter of wings blocked my vision. I turned and saw a hawk, a red-tailed hawk only at least 6 feet tall soar above him, scratching and snapping at him until he ran away, limping. The bird turned around only it wasn't a bird anymore.  
  
"Elfangor?"  
  
He pulled me to my feet and I walked down the hallway unharmed just as the bell rang.  
  
BRRIIIINNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
I jumped out of bed and slammed my fist onto the alarm clock. I looked around my room and collapsed back onto my bed.  
  
Knock knock I heard on the door. "Tobias! Get up!" Mr. King.  
  
"Nnuuhhhgghhhnn," I responded and slid to the floor. Ugh. Now I remember. With much effort I dragged myself back up and stumbled to the bathroom.  
  
Somehow I managed to get ready and make it downstairs in time. "Breakfast?" asked Mr. King holding up a box of cereal.  
  
"Uhnnnngghh," I answered.  
  
Erek laughed. "You'll get used to it." He shook my shoulder and headed towards the door. "Come on, time to go."  
  
Erek and I headed towards the school. We didn't talk much, I was still pretty much waking up. The walk really helped though, the air was crisp and fresh and there was a soft breeze ruffling my hair back a little. It helped wake me up, so by the time we got there I wasn't such a zombie.  
  
I saw Jake up by the front door. He didn't look as good. Eyes bloodshot with bags under them. "You okay?" I asked.  
  
"What? I'm fine. Why?" he asked calmly.  
  
"Well, you look like crap."  
  
"Oh. Yeah that's what school does to you. I'm doing fine though, really. Just takes more time for me to wake up," he explained as his eyes fluttered. "Well, let's get going."  
  
I followed Jake into the school. It was strange. It was like I remembered it, though everyone was older, of course. The guys were all pretty much the same, standing around trying to look like they didn't care about anything but sneaking looks at their reflections in the windows. Occasionally pulling out a hacky-sac and showing off, even though they couldn't keep it off the ground for more than about three seconds. The girls were much different than before. No more braces and pigtails, staring at the boys, pointing and giggling. Now, dressed in tiny outfits, walking back and forth in little groups by boys, shaking their hips trying to show themselves off to people they wouldn't give the time of day to. I also saw frequent small groups of two to three girls ranting on about how Jerry didn't call her last night even though he said he'd think about it- which obviously means he's in love with the girl and they'll get married next week. Another thing that really perturbed me was how a lot of the girls looked relatively the same. Extremely fake tans, layered hair with highlights and lowlights that made them look like someone spilled some sort of cream in their hair. It was like a school of clones.  
  
"In here," Jake said, turning into a classroom. "Homeroom," he explained. He walked to the teacher. "Hi, this is"  
  
"Tobias!" the teacher yelled. She had gray hair that stuck out in all directions and triangle shaped glasses. She wore bright red lipstick, some of which was on her teeth. "Yes, the principal informed me of you're coming here. Well have a GREAT day at High! I hope you absolutely LOVE IT!" she smiled and sighed like she witnessed a couple marry.  
  
"Um, thanks," I said and followed Jake to the back of the room. I tried not to notice the stares of people following me. I was prepared for looks of disgust like usual, but- hmm. None of the boys really noticed. But there were several pretty girls looking me up and down-were they checking me out? No. Nobody does that to me. Definitely not. I slowly turned my head towards a girl. She smiled and did a weird thing with her eyes while she nibbled on her pen. Shocked, I jerked my head away and sat down. The desk was hard wood and uncomfortable. More comfortable than a tree, though, I guess.  
  
"I hope you don't mind, I have to finish up some of my homework," Jake said and pulled out a notebook. I spent the ten minutes of homeroom sitting and avoiding the glances of the girls. I was sure I looked awkward, sitting like if something moved I would jump up and kill somebody. Eventually the bell rang and Jake and I headed to first period.  
  
"Okay, in case you don't remember Tobias," Jake said as we walked down the crowded hallway, avoiding the cliques barricading themselves on various ends. "There's homeroom for ten minutes, then there are four 90 minute classes, with ten minute passing times. Except for between homeroom and first period, that's only five minutes. Lunches are during third hour.  
  
"Okay," I said as we stepped into first period. From the posters on the walls I could tell what class it was. Math. Math was always my worst. Jake and I sat down in the back again. I wondered if there were assigned seats in this class. It didn't seem like it since no one told me to leave my spot.  
  
Up in front of the room I spotted the teacher. You could tell right off from the start that he was a little kooky. He was pretty tall, not skinny but not fat. He had a fair layer of gray hair with bushy gray eyebrows and a fuzzy gray beard. His eyes kind of went to a point at the end. In an odd way that you wouldn't really see unless you've seen him, he remarkably resembled a goat. He wore brown pants with suspenders over a plaid shirt.  
  
Jake leaned over to me and whispered, "We call him goat-man." Ahh. So I wasn't the only one that noticed. "He's cool, though, most people like him as long as you don't get annoyed easily." That's good. "Oh, and watch out for the puns."  
  
I didn't know what Jake meant but I figured I'd know soon enough. About a minute before the bell rang, "Goat man" walked over to my desk and introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Mr. Sanvelle. Do you have a name?"  
  
"Yeah, it's-"  
  
"Oh! That's good. I'd be sad if I didn't have a name," he responded as he walked back to the front of the room. He turned to a girl eating a granola bar and asked, "So, do you like food?"  
  
"Yes," she answered.  
  
"Me too. I like pizza. I could eat all eight pieces of a pizza. But not if I cut it into 16 pieces, I don't think I could eat that many." The bell rang.  
  
"Good morning," announced Mr. Sanvelle. "Today we're going to start the next unit in algebra. We'll learn about Polynomial nomenclatures. Just a review first, what's a positive times a positive?" he asked as he wrote "Positive X Positive" on the white board.  
  
"Positive," someone answered.  
  
"Exactly. Positive times negative?" he asked, also writing it on the board.  
  
"Negative."  
  
"Yes! And Negative times negative?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Precisely," he said, writing down everything. "Now copy this down if you can't remember. So-"  
  
Then a confused looking girl in the middle of the room asked "Mr. Sanvelle? I was just wondering, I mean I know that those are right, but I don't exactly get why it's like that."  
  
"Oh. Those are the rules," he answered.  
  
"Rules of what?" she asked.  
  
"Of math," he answered again. She looked confused. "Oh, don't you know? Math is just a game. And those are the rules. I teach you the rules of math in this room so you know how to play." He smiled and turned around, writing on the whiteboard.  
  
The rest of the class went fairly well. I had never been that good at math, but the way Mr. Sanvelle was teaching I was able to follow along a lot better than usual. And I hadn't even had math in over a year. His quirky ways made the class seem not so long. Before I knew it, it was over.  
  
The next class, history, was a lot different. It was taught by an old teacher, long, thin with her hair pulled into a tight bun. She seemed pretty strict. There were assigned seats in that class, so I had to pull up a chair next to Jake's desk for the day. The whole period was spent copying down notes while she droned on and on. I found myself looking out the window a lot in that class.  
  
I was glad when that class was over. Not just because of the boredom, but because lunch was next. My stomach had been growling, I guess I should have had breakfast after all.  
  
As Jake and I walked through the lunch line I noticed how I hadn't had a single evil look at me the whole day. I was starting to think maybe school isn't so bad.  
  
"At lunch we usually don't all eat together," Jake told me after we had paid. "But I figured it wouldn't hurt if we all ate with each other today." We headed toward a table where all of the others were sitting. I set my tray down next to Rachel to sit down when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a girl I recognized from math. She was one of "the clones." She had weird looking dyed hair, a nice tan and a skimpy outfit. I guess most guys would think of her as "really hot." I mean she was good looking, but she wasn't beautiful like Rachel.  
  
"Hey. You're new aren't you?" she asked, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.  
  
"Yeah," I said simply.  
  
"Hiiii! I'm Grace!" she said cheerfully. "So, do u like, wanna come sit with me and my friends-suh?"  
  
Before I could really respond, Rachel jumped up next to me. "Listen, Grace, he's not interested."  
  
"But, I was just-"  
  
"Oh, I know what you 'were just.' Take your plastic chest and get back with the other clones before I make a belt out of your arm."  
  
"Oh!" Grace looked shocked and turned away. Rachel and I sat back down. Rachel calmly went back to eating while everyone stared at her.  
  
"What?!" she asked. Everyone shrugged and conversed with each other.  
  
"So," Rachel said, turning to me. "How's the day been going? It's nice to be able to see you here."  
  
"It's been going all right. I mean, it's school, isn't it?" Rachel laughed. I guess I can actually say I had fun during lunch. It was cool just sitting around talking about classes, people, and what not. It was almost.....normal?  
  
There's not much to say about the rest of the day. I had two more classes, biology and communications, both of which Rachel were in. Cassie was in our communications class, while Marco was in biology. At the end of communications, we all decided to get home separately and take care of any home matters. My job was basically to collect any school stuff I'd need to bring the next day. As we parted ways, I caught Rachel's eye and she smiled. I smiled inside and walked home.  
  
Well, that was a fun chapter to write:) By the way, Mr. Sanvelle is based upon my 9th grade math teacher, he was a very silly person and I thought he was someone Tobias could learn from. Thanks to all of you who reviewed! It means a lot to know that people enjoy my fic. And anonymous-cat, I do agree that that is a GREAT idea to have side effects to the device, but I already have some problems other than that for our poor Tobias that I'm sure ull find interesting.....you'll just have to find out! Lol why do we have to be so mean to him? Oh well Thanks again for the reviews cya soon! 


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